Jefferson City's primary election date is moving to March, pending approval from the full City Council on Monday.
At the regular council meeting, the council is expected to approve a bill establishing primary and general election dates for 2013, but because of a recently passed state law, the primary date can no longer be in February.
City Administrator Nathan Nickolaus said the new law abolished the February election date, but was believed to have an exception for charter cities to keep them from losing that election date. Nickolaus said after looking closely at the language of the law, they discovered the exemption applied only when the charter specifically stated a February primary should be held.
He said Jefferson City's charter does not specify the primary date, only that a primary will be held on a date established by the City Council, meaning the city does not qualify for the exemption to the new law.